Jonathan Knight (railroader)

Jonathan Knight was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the tenth child of Abel and Anna S. Knight. In 1801, he moved with his parents to East Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania in Washington County.Dorwart, Harold L. "Biographical Notes on Jonathan Knight (1787-1858)." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 75.1 (1951): 76-90.

He attended the common schools, worked as a teacher, and purchased a farm.{{cite book |last1=Middleton |first1=William D. |title=Encyclopedia of North American Railroads |date=2007 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington and Indianapolis |isbn=978-0-253-34916-3 |page=574 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bhywDQAAQBAJ&q=jonathan+knight+pennsylvania+engineer&pg=PA574 |access-date=25 December 2019}} He also did survey work and practiced as a civil engineer. In 1816, Knight was appointed by the state to make and report on a map of Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was elected county commissioner and served three years.{{cite web |title=Pennsylvania State Senate - Jonathan Knight Biography |url=https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/BiosHistory/MemBio.cfm?ID=4881&body=S |website=www.legis.state.pa.us |access-date=24 December 2019}}

Knight assisted in the preliminary surveys of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal {{cite report |title=Report of the Board of Engineers for Internal Improvement |publisher=U.S. War Department |year=1825 |page=88 |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SERIALSET-00117_00_00-003-0083-0000/pdf/SERIALSET-00117_00_00-003-0083-0000.pdf}} and the National Road between Cumberland, Maryland, and Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia). In 1828, he entered the service of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) to help create an engineering staff for the new company.{{cite book |last=Harwood |first=Herbert H. Jr. |title=Impossible Challenge II: Baltimore to Washington and Harpers Ferry from 1828 to 1994 |year=1994 |publisher=Barnard, Roberts & Co. |location=Baltimore, MD |isbn=0-934118-22-1 }}{{rp|14}} Later that year the B&O sent him to England to study railroad engineering. Upon his return in 1830, he was appointed Chief Engineer of the B&O and served until 1842. He worked with Dr. William Howard, Lt. Col Stephen H. Long{{cite book |title=Jonathan Knight - First Chief Engineer of The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|publisher=B and O Magazine, Volume 5 |date=May 1917 |pages=18–20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RClCAQAAIAAJ&q=jonathan+knight+pennsylvania+engineer&pg=PA118 |access-date=25 December 2019}} and led the design work of the B&O Main Line from Baltimore, Maryland to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the oldest common carrier rail line in the United States. He also led the engineering work on the B&O Washington Branch between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.{{rp|18}}

Knight also engaged in agricultural pursuits and was secretary of the first agricultural society organized in Washington County.

Knight served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 20th district from 1822 to 1828.

Knight was elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856, and for election in 1858. He resumed agricultural pursuits near East Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and died there in 1858

Knightstown, Indiana, was named in his honor.{{cite book |title=United States Congressional Series Set, Volume 4864 |date=1905 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington |page=177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qPxGAQAAIAAJ&q=jonathan+knight+pennsylvania+congressman&pg=RA4-PA177 |access-date=25 December 2019}}

• Knight, Jonathan. Report Upon the Locomotive Engines: And the Police and Management of Several of the Principal Rail Roads in the Northern and Middle States, Being a Sequel to the Report... Upon Railway Structures. Lucas & Deaver., 1838.
• Chase, Patrick F. Jonathan Knight: Pathfinder of American Roads. Fillingim Brothers Publishing, 2024.

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• {{CongBio|K000285}}
• The Political Graveyard (Lawrence Kestenbaum, Ann Arbor, MI).[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/knight.html "Jonathan Knight"] Accessed 2013-03-17.

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Category:1787 births

Category:1858 deaths

Category:19th-century American railroad executives

Category:American railroad pioneers

Category:Baltimore and Ohio Railroad people

Category:Engineers from Pennsylvania

Category:Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Category:Pennsylvania state senators

Category:Politicians from Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Category:American railway civil engineers

Category:Washington County Commissioners (Pennsylvania)

Category:19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly

Category:19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives